Vegan

Living on your own changes you and how you go about preparing meals – I have been living on my own for just over a year now and very often I don’t prepare proper meals for myself – I always think I will be fine I won’t need to eat dinner because I have had a good lunch or I will be satisfied with just a green salad. Unfortunately for me this does not always work and I think it is more of a “want” than a “need” that I always end up quickly preparing something for myself, and I think I just console myself with the fact that if I prepare something healthy and eat because of “want” it will not cause me any harm – I know I am fooling me and myself only.

But the past few weeks have taught me a good few lessons – and I am hoping I will keep them close to me and continue practicing those lessons for the future. I had foot surgery on the 4^th April and not able to move, fill up bowls and cook as freely as I normally do, and I realize how much of the snacks and meals I prepare and chomp on I don’t really need – so hopefully this lesson is going to stick with me.

This recipe was created when I was freely walking about my own home without “lessons learnt”. I have to admit it is a healthy dish that is most certainly not short on taste, and because it is healthy you still have to be careful of portion sizes. It is a recipe that was created when I wanted to finish off whatever veggies were in the fridge and I wanted something nice and tasty for me to chomp on, and like most things “I touch” I have to add my Gujju or Indian flavour to it

Veg Stir Fry With A Twist

30 ml sesame oil

45 ml finely chopped onions

30 ml chopped spring onions

10 ml dry roasted fennel seeds

25 ml dry roasted sesame seeds

2.5 ml grated fresh ginger

75 ml raw peanuts

75 ml shredded green cabbage

75 ml shredded red cabbage

75 ml shredded spinach

100 ml chick peas (from a can or cooked)

10 ml sesame oil

5 ml dry roasted fennel seeds

500 ml cooked rice

Method

• Heat oil in a kadai/wok or a non stick Le Creuset deep pan, and then add the onions and spring onions
• Allow the onions to soften slightly before adding the fennel seeds, sesame seeds, ginger and peanuts
• Stir well before adding the cabbages, spinach and chick peas
• Allow this to cook for about 10 minutes while you prepare the rice
• In another pan heat the second amount of sesame oil and once the oil is hot add half of the second amount of fennel seeds and allow the seeds to cook before adding the cooked rice
• Serve the veggie stir fry with the fennel rice or on its own